CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C.-2ND CENTURY A.D.

The Roman naturalist, Pliny, writes that the Romans believed that rock crystal was formed from rain-water and snow (The Natural History, 37.9). Indeed, the etymology of the word crystal comes from the Greek word, “kyrstallos,” which derives from “kyros,” meaning, “frost, cold, icy”. It was also believed that the transparent appearance was linked to purity and virtue.

The two rock crystal amulets, which would have been worn as jewellery, have elaborate gold bands decorated with granulated rosettes. The Zebu also has a gold mask with similar granulation around the eyes and horns, with a twisted wire band along the lower edge. The encircling waist bands on both animals have suspenion holes, which suggest that they had further decorative elements suspended below. For a similar small lion made of agate, which is also pierced longitudinally, see D. Adams et al, When Orpheus Sang, an Ancient Bestiary, Paris, 2004, no. 73.

According to Athenaeus of Naucratis (Deipnosophistae V, C201), in a procession to honour Ptolemy II, there were twenty-six white Indian oxen which may have been zebus (humped oxen). They were also used in later Roman times as arena animals for the amphitheatre.